THE Fiji Rugby Union board of Trustees intends to keep Osea Kolinisau on and continue coaching the Fiji 7s team into the new rugby sevens season.
This was according to FRU interim chair Peter Mazey when asked if the man called ‘Oscar’ will stay on as coach.
“Yes of course. I’m very much a fan of having Fijian coaches and I know there has been a lot of talk about that,” he said.
Kolinisau joined the team in March following calls by many to have Ben Gollings replaced as Fiji failed to win a tournament title in the World SVNS Series.
With only four months left to prepare, Kolinisau set strict conditions for all players including Jerry Tuwai- putting fitness as the top standard to meet.
The changes he brought was reflected on the performance of the players and the FRU wouldn’t want to lose a leader of that calibre.
“We will be having that discussion with Oscar. His family still lives in America. The contract is just after the Olympics.
“I really have to thank Oscar; he came in at a very late stage as everybody knows and I think the changes that the Trustees made have proven to be the right decision. The team Oscar put together, his coaching team was excellent, and it was great having Gareth (Gareth Baber) there. It was also interesting to see that the two last Olympic coaches were also there supporting him,” Mazey added.
Kolinisau, who was the Fiji 7s captain during their gold medal win at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was assisted by former Fiji 7s star Setefano Cakau at the recent tournament.
He worked on the team’s fitness with the expertise of strength and conditioning coach Ian Gibbons, Naca Cawanibuka who came in as a consultant and the trusty hands of 2020 Fiji 7s gold medal winning coach, Gareth Baber.
